The genre, though, might be nearing a saturation point as family audiences confront a growing
number of options for their movie dollars.

“We’re all sitting at a very delicate point,” said Chris Meledandri, chief executive of
Illumination Entertainment, which produced the
Despicable Me films. “Everybody has been able to survive so far, but as more films are
planned, it’s inevitable that there will be more acute cannibalization off each other.”

This year, 11 animated

movies — up from six a

decade ago — will be released widely in theaters, including six during the summer alone.

Since 2008, 75 animated movies have been released, according to Hollywood.com. And 13 more — not
counting those released in fewer than 500 theaters — are scheduled for release in 2014.

“There’s a huge number of animated films coming out,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the
box-office division of Hollywood.com. “There’s no question studios are going to commit huge
resources to animation, but I think there’s a learning curve about how audiences react to films and
how often they are released.”

The flood of computer-animated movies is reminiscent of the late 1990s, when Disney blockbusters
such as
The Lion King spurred others to jump into the business — only to fail with a string of
box-office clunkers, such as
TheIron Giant, that led to widespread layoffs.

Most of the recent movies, however, have fared well at the box office — some hugely so.

Universal scored a massive hit with
Despicable Me 2. Since its release July 3, the sequel, produced for $76 million, has raked
in more than $750 million, making it the most profitable movie in the studio’s history.

Disney also produced a hit with Pixar Animation Studios’
Monsters University, which has pulled in more than $658 million in ticket sales since its
release in June.

At the same time, some high-profile films have faltered.

DreamWorks Animation, one of the industry leaders, had an unexpected misfire this summer with
its computer-animated
Turbo, released two weeks after
Despicable Me 2.

The film made $21 million in its opening weekend, less than half what the studio pulled in for
the opening weekend of its prior movie,
The Croods. Just five months earlier, DreamWorks took an $87 million write-down on its
holiday movie
Rise of the Guardians, which helped trigger the first-ever layoffs at DreamWorks this
year.

Disney’s latest animated release,
Planes, had a soft landing at the box office during its opening weekend this month. But
the movie cost only about $50 million to make, and the studio already has approved a sequel.

Sony had a weaker-than-expected opening for
Smurfs 2, which earned just $17.5 million in its opening weekend — less than half of what
the first Smurfs movie grossed for its opening. Still, the movie has made up ground overseas, and
the

studio expects the film to generate a nice profit. A sequel is planned for 2015.

Some industry veterans say Hollywood may be saturating the market with films that begin to look
too familiar.